Four-time drunk driver from Bridgewater loses appeal

BOSTON -- The state Appeals Court on Tuesday upheld the conviction of a 48-year-old Bridgewater man charged with fourth-offense drunk driving and setting his motorcycle on fire.

Ronnie Bigley was arrested after Bridgewater police responded to reports of a motorcycle in flames on Oak Street on Sept. 26, 2010. He was arrested about one-quarter mile away as he staggered along on foot.

“I’m (expletive),” he told police. “My marriage is over, there goes my kid, I’ll be going away for the next three to five years.”

He said he had been at a concert by county singer Toby Keith and went afterward the Riviera Cafe, about 100 yards from the sport where the burning motorcycle was found.

Bigley was read his Miranda rights at the scene and again at the police station following his arrest. He was described as responsive and cooperative, and declined a field sobriety and blood-alcohol test.

The defense appealed on the grounds that Bigley was too drunk and too emotional to understand what he was doing, but the Appeals Court ruled that his statement were voluntary and that he had waived his right not to speak with police.

“The evidence indicates that to a large extent, the defendant spoke without any prompting or questioning by the police,” the court said.

Bigley’s lawyer also challenged the evidence on one prior drunk-driving conviction in 1990 in Quincy District Court and two in 1997 in Norfolk Superior Court. The court said there was no reason to doubt any of those convictions, which were support by records from the courts, the Probation Department and the Registry of Motor Vehicles.